Nursery alert on child terror brainwashing
Children in nursery schools in the West Midlands should be reported to police if people fear children are being brainwashed by Muslim fanatics, an officer has claimed.
Children in nursery schools in the West Midlands should be reported to police if people fear children are being brainwashed by Muslim fanatics, an officer has claimed.
In an email an officer of West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit has asked that community groups should report children as young as four for any "radicalised" behaviour. In the email, the officer said: "I do hope that you will tell me about persons, of whatever age, you think may have been radicalised or be vulnerable to radicalisation."
West Midlands Police is believed to be acting following evidence presented at a trial of a Birmingham terrorist, now jailed, who was caught on film teaching his five-year-old son to say he loved Osama bin Laden.
Parviz Khan, aged 38, of Foxton Road, Alum Rock, was jailed last year for plotting to kidnap and behead a British soldier and the film showed him threatening to beat the boy if he did not say he loved bin Laden.
The counter terrorism unit today admitted that an officer trained in spotting vulnerable children had been into one nursery school in the region.
Lorraine Hennessy, spokeswoman for the force's counter terrorism unit, said today: "Security and partnerships officers are uniformed members of the West Midlands Counter Terrorist Unit's Prevent team.
"There are 21 constables and sergeants working across the force area, based at local stations.
"In order to gain the trust and confidence of their communities, these officers make it clear from the outset they are members of the CTU.
"They work in the same way as neighbourhood officers and therefore an important part of their job is to know their local area in detail.
"This includes some level of engagement with public and commercial organisations on their patch, including educational esta- blishments. The officers do not, however, actively work with or 'monitor' nurseries.
"The team does run a series of educational programmes that highlight the dangers of being drawn into all kinds of violent extremism, but these are aimed at pupils in their mid and late teens."
